Former Saint Baker banned from footy for life

Sports writer for The Age

Former St Kilda tagger Steven Baker has been banned from all forms of football for the rest of his life after being found guilty for his part in an incident that left an opponent with a broken jaw.

The Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League tribunal slapped Baker with a six-match suspension on Tuesday night for unduly rough conduct against a Red Hill player, Blake Thompson, during his first practice match for his new club Sorrento.

The hefty whack takes the former Saints hardman beyond the nationwide 16-week career suspension limit.

Baker was suspended for 28 weeks during his controversial AFL career. That total is halved at amateur level, leaving the 32-year-old with a career total of 14 weeks suspension when he joined Sorrento.

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A shattered Baker has strongly protested his innocence and the club has already lodged an appeal over the incident on 9 March

A MPNFL representative has confirmed there was no video evidence of the incident and that Baker was found guilty after an investigation that involved little evidence from the three field umpires.

He was found not guilty of other charges of striking and charging.

Baker told the tribunal on Tuesday night it was the only time in his career that he wished he had been caught on camera.

"I ran to intercept the Red Hill ball carrier, but a couple of seconds before I got there I noticed another Red Hill player [Thompson] was moving to shepherd his ball carrier," Baker said in his statement.

"I braced myself and we made contact. We clashed heads and we both went to ground. I did not raise my arm or fist."

Baker's 28-week career total suspension at AFL level includes the nine-match ban he received on four separate charges against Geelong's Steve Johnson in 2010 - which was viewed as highly contentious at the time - as well as the seven-match ban he copped for striking former Fremantle forward Jeff Farmer.